Watch Drew Announcement

Later on in the afternoon. Couple of thoughts.

I have been on the internet looking and reading different blogs and sites. Amazing what folks think of an athlete before and after commitment. I fall into that category sometimes, think we all do. Some out there do get pretty ugly. Not the same tone as most on this board. Folks here say if you love UGA, join in. If not, don't really need to waste our time or your time.

The excitement over UGA possibly being in the top 5 in recruiting or higher this year has really turned a lot of the fan base on. Started me thinking. When we look at the really successful football schools, they are always in the top ten in recruiting, some of the more elite stay in the top five.

Florida is usually in the top 5 or 10 every year. That can explain some of our problems in JAX. Southern Cal, maybe there is a reason for the top 5 classes. Alabama under Saban consistently in the top 5. (Does know how to use the recruiting rules) Texas, Oklahoma and Ohio State same thing.

Point that I am trying to make is this . . . I hope that this is the beginning of UGA being in that elite group from not only a playing standpoint, but from a recruiting standpoint. Not having a top 15 or 10 or 5 class on occasion, consistently in the scramble for top flight young men. When that happens all of us might look back on the 2011 Class as a new beginning for UGA football. Sure hope that they come in with leadership. I have strong feelings that Jones is going to be that man. He should know his way around UGA pretty well by now. Have to feel that Jones and Grantham have built a rapport.

Really glad to see Godfrey and Pollack in the mix. Who knows folks, maybe at some point we could possibly see #86 originally from Forest Park High School and UGA Hines Ward in the State of Georgia, Athens specifically, coaching the talented receivers that will find their way to UGA because of his presence. Talented receivers leads to excellent pro style quarterbacks.

This class has tremendous potential. Good luck to the folks recruiting Richardson, think averagedawg would do back flips at his young age of 62 if he signs on. I will do a half back flip and one pushup. Old fart you know. . . .

Here is a high five to all of you. Glad to be a part of this board.

Go Dawgs!!

AllDawgs5 wrote:

Buc, just saw where Richt and cast are currently visiting with Richardson.

Ad5, listen closely to the names that Richardson mentions on this youtube film strip if you have not seen it already. This is what keeps me up at night. What a catch this young man would be.

Thanks Buc

Good guy - sounds like we have a good chance to get him

I know that some of these guys will take a bit to get ready to compete in the SEC - what I'm hopping for is that they get as many chances as possible to show what they have - saw a lot of freshmen play on a lot of different teams this year - we all saw what lattamore and others were able to do - never know which ones will be really great football players - CTG really made me feel good this year when he was not afraid to play any of the guys he felt were ready and some of them did well - perhaps most of this class will get the opportunity to show what they can do

now we just have to get all these guys signed on the dotted line - think jenkins is not planning to announce/sign till next saturday

GO DAWGS

RabunDog, speaking of CTG and some of the young men that played on the D side last year. That is really comforting when you look at the possibility of those coming in and playing some. Could be 2 deep strong at every position on D. Now that can change L's to W's in short order.

Still want to see what changes are made on the O side. With all of the hollering myself and others have done, we will see whether the outsiders (us) have been listened to.

Coaches are supposed to know football, that is why they live the good life these days. Some on the outside understand and know just as much, just coming from a different position . . . the STANDS. Not to be forgotten by those in power. Anyone that thinks money does not drive the college football game . . . . check out the new S&C facility and the other areas that football dollars contributed heavily to.

Those things come from W's not L's. No more 6-7 from a school that has a lot of football tradition built over many years.

I am as excited as anyone on this board about recent happenings, I am not however wearing blinders.

Go Dawgs!!

Yes Buc - looking at our roster (assuming we sign these guys) we should have depth - and with the new S&C program we should be much improved on stamina - 1st stringers start and keep um fresh with frequent substitutions - noticed that a lot with bama and others this year - playing the 2nd and 3rd stringers as much as possible (even in big games) helps get you to the point of just reloading every year - when the 1st sting guys leave - the 2nd string just steps right in with virtually no change in performance

And speaking of blinders - this class looks very impressive - unless the lizards pull off a major last min blitz - we should have the best class in the east - BUT SC class looks good and they have a lot returning - the sec west classes look just as good as ours - looks like the sec will have half of the top 10 recruit classes - so even though it looks like we have a very good class - our neighbors have top notch classes also

Agree with you - really think CTG&co will coach up and deliver on the D side of the ball - my concerns are also with the O side - hell I'd feel better with AM just calling the plays - IF we have a fair amout of improved O line play and AT LAST have a decent running game with runners that can hold on to the ball - can you imagine what AM could do - gives me goose bumps just thinking about it

GO DAWGS

SI had a fun read on elite defensive lineman and where they came from.

"UCLA coach Rick Neuheisel posed a fascinating question during a conversation last summer. Where, Neuheisel asked, can a coach go to find the best defensive linemen?

Neuheisel had spent the offseason trying to replace star lineman Brian Price, so he knew the challenge of finding a 300-pound space eater who could hang with an elite sprinter for the first 10 meters of a race. Neuheisel wondered aloud if there is an area of the country that produces more quick, agile 300-pound tackles and blazing fast 275-pound ends than anywhere else. Neuheisel had good reason to ask. To a man, coaches say an elite defensive lineman is the toughest prospect to find and the biggest help to a program. "They can equalize a lot of problems for you," Arizona coach Mike Stoops said.

There is a region that produces a higher percentage of elite defensive linemen, and anyone who has watched the past five BCS title games should have an idea where to point on the map. Think back to who made the biggest plays in those games -- all of which were won by a team from the SEC. Following the 2006 season, Florida ends Derrick Harvey and Jarvis Moss and tackle Ray McDonald blew past flabbergasted Ohio State offensive linemen. The next year, LSU tackle Glenn Dorsey similarly flummoxed the Buckeyes. A year later, Florida end Carlos Dunlap seemed to be everywhere against Oklahoma. The next year, 300-pound Alabama end Marcell Dareus knocked Texas quarterback Colt McCoy from the BCS title game with a sack and then returned an intercepted shovel pass 29 yards -- with a stiffarm and a pirouette -- for a touchdown.

Earlier this month, Auburn's Nick Fairley added his name to that list. The 6-foot-5, 298-pounder obliterated Oregon quarterback Darron Thomas' zone reads and singlehandedly disrupted an offense that had buzzsawed most of the Pac-10. "I don't know how many guys like Nick are out there," Auburn coach Gene Chizik said the next morning. "We are blessed to have him. They don't come along very often."

What do those linemen have in common? Except for Moss (Texas) and Harvey (Maryland), all played their high school football in the region commonly known as the deep South. McDonald is from Belle Glade, Fla. Dorsey is from Gonzales, La. Dunlap is from North Charleston, S.C. Dareus is from Huffman, Ala. Fairley is from Mobile, Ala.

So that provides an anecdotal answer to Neuheisel's question, but what about an empirical one? Which area of the country produces the most elite defensive linemen?

Simply logging the hometowns of football recruits -- as I did two years ago for the State of Recruiting project -- wouldn't answer the question. Such a study wouldn't address quality. So instead of using college players, I decided to use NFL players. Unlike quarterback, the defensive line positions have few political underpinnings. It doesn't matter how much a guy gets paid. If he gets blocked too often, he gets cut. The NFL's Darwinian nature allows us to be reasonably confident that the defensive linemen on the rosters now are the best the world has to offer at the moment. So I logged the high school hometowns of all 309 defensive linemen who ended the 2010 season on a roster or on injured reserve to get a snapshot of which areas produce the most elite defensive linemen.

The results won't make Neuheisel feel any better.

Despite the fact that the region accounts for only 22.1 percent of the nation's population, 43 percent of the NFL's defensive linemen went to high school in the following 10 states: Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina and Tennessee.

Now let's look at another 10-state region that accounts for 22.5 percent of the nation's population. Arizona, California, Colorado, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, Utah and Washington produced just 13.6 percent of the NFL's defensive linemen. The region that is home to the Pac-10 -- soon to be the Pac-12 with the addition this year of Colorado and Utah -- suffers from a severe shortage of elite defensive linemen compared to the region populated by the schools of the SEC and the ACC.

(It should be noted that despite the quantity, the quality out West is quite high. The aforementioned Price came from LA's Crenshaw High and dominated in college, while Nebraska Cornhusker-turned-Detroit Lion Ndamukong Suh -- perhaps the most dominant college defensive tackle of the past 10 years -- is from Portland, Ore.)

Things aren't much better in Big Ten country. While metro Detroit seems to be a productive pocket for defensive linemen, a nine-state region (Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Michigan, Minnesota, Nebraska, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin) that is home to 22.5 percent of the nation's citizens produced just 13.6 percent of the NFL's defensive linemen.

Just as it did in the State of Recruiting project, Florida led the nation in players produced. The state of 18.5 million produced 35 linemen. Texas produced a whopping 26 NFL defensive linemen, but Texas is a whopping state of 24.8 million citizens. For better economy, go to Louisiana, a state of 4.5 million that produced 17 players, including Dorsey and end Tyson Jackson (Edgard, La.), who were teammates at LSU and now play together in Kansas City.
The only region that seems to come close to the South in terms of production is the Eastern Seaboard. Maryland, the District of Columbia and New Jersey all produced more than their share of players relative to their populations."

From here sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2011/writers/a...?xid=cnnbin&hpt=Sbin